Arguing for the need for reform, Mr Stewart said: “You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation.

“They come (into prison), they meet a lot of interesting characters (to put it politely) and then you whap them on to the streets again.

“The public are safer if we have a good community sentence… and it will relieve a lot of pressure on prisons.”

‘Ease pressure’

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, told the BBC: “We should not be using prison for these people. We should be turning their lives around and giving them support – dealing with their drug addiction, their homelessness – and getting them to make amends for the wrong they have done.

“That’s really good for victims, it’s good for the taxpayer and it will ease pressure on prisons.”

Peter Dawson, the charity’s director, told the Telegraph: “Ministers should be congratulated for having the political courage to start the debate.”

In Scotland, a presumption against prison sentences of less than three months is already in place and is due to be extended to 12 months.

More than half of the 86,275 offenders sentenced to immediate custody in England and Wales in 2017 were handed sentences of six months or less, according to a Parliamentary response from Mr Stewart last month.

The prison population has doubled in England and Wales since the early 1990s, rising from about 40,000 to more than 80,000 in 2018, official figures show.

Almost two-thirds of prisoners released after sentences of less than 12 months reoffend within a year.

What impact do short prison sentences have? Tell us about your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk

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